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After.Life DVD Review - www.impulsegamer.com -

Feature 6.0
Video 8.5
Audio 8.8
Special Features 1.0
Total 6.0
Distributor: Roadshow
Classification: R18+
Minutes: 99
Reviewer: Brent Jago

6.0


After.Life

After a horrific car accident, Anna (Christina Ricci) wakes inside a funeral home, where her body is being prepared by the funeral director; Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) Deacon explains to her that she was killed in that car accident and is now in the transition to the afterlife, and that he has the ability to communicate with the dead. Anna, who feels that she is still alive, finds herself trapped inside the funeral home, while Deacon reassures her that it’s his job to help her move on and accept her death leading up to her funeral. All the while, Anna’s fiancé; Paul (Justin Long), unable to accept losing her and believing that she is still alive, tries to uncover the real truth behind it all before it’s too late. 

After.Life is a film that has some good performances, the strongest, coming from Liam Neeson as the funeral director; Eliot Deacon. Neeson giving a performance that keeps us guessing. Is he a man burdened with this ’gift’, trying to help those who have passed, accept their fate and move on to the other side, or is he just a sick monster?  Christina Ricci does a great job with what she has to work with. Her character being fairly unlikeable for around the first 20 minutes of the film. I didn’t find myself caring about her at all until she was in the funeral home and struggling to accept that she was dead. Also, she spends the majority of the film wearing next to nothing and then the majority of the third act naked. You have to hand it to her, she’s a brave actress who’s not afraid to go all out for a role. Justin Long plays the concerned fiancé, trying to get to the bottom of the situation, similar to his role in Drag Me To Hell, but not as good.  

Now don’t get me wrong, After.Life is an enjoyable film, that comes with a great premise. It’s a horror film, wrapped in a shiny, sterile wrapper that just ends up being a little more dull than good. The ending of the film is left open ended, leaving the viewer to speculate and interpret for themselves what had actually happened and whether she was dead or not, but it’s made blatantly obvious in the film that she was or wasn’t (And for the sake of ruining the film, I won’t say which). Though when it finally comes down, it makes you think why some events had happened earlier in the film if she was alive/dead. It’s completely contradicting of the entire final outcome and making the film seem more confusing and really, stupid than it should be. 

The DVD picture looks quite good. A high being the funeral home, which is filmed quite nicely, with warm wooden and oak colours, making it feel peaceful and inviting, but once we enter the lower level, into the morgue, showing the muted, for lack of a better word, dead colours. The combination of grey, silver and the shine of the preparation equipment of Deacon’s really give that cold, sterile feel, which is a plus for the look and an add a great substance to the film.  

The only extra that comes on this disc is the original theatrical trailer. 

In the end, After.Life is one of those films that has a great premise, looks great and is fairly well executed, but doesn’t completely deliver in the end. Like the occupants of the funeral home, this film has no pulse.






 
 



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